Here's a reading I performed yesterday asking, "Where to put my energies in November?" PLAYING CARD INSIGHTS The numerical theme is 6 = is it worth it? I received two of a kind (2) = choice. Based on the playing card info, in November I'll be vibrating 6 energy which means I'll be questioning the worth or value of something, and perhaps will need to choose between two things. TRIGRAM ENERGIES I received MOUNTAIN over EARTH with moving lines 3, 4, 6 or Hexagram 23:3.4.6 titled Loss changing into Hexagram 62 titled Small Excess. MOUNTAIN describes a blocked environment or huge obstacle that seems like an impasse. Internally, I'll be waiting and wondering when things will happen, taking inventory of what I have, and being adaptive. This energy is SINKING which shows it's about retreating or staying still rather than moving. There's also 5 yin lines to only 1 yang line in this hexagram which reflects a stable but passive energy and going inward. November may feel like a slow month with not much happening but it may be great for creativity and self-discovery work. MOVING LINE PROMPTS The three key questions of the month (based on moving lines): Are you willing to defend your position? Can you find common ground? Is it time to re-evaluate or walk away? BIGRAM GUIDANCE The bigram guidance is WINTER, revealing November is a month for withdrawal, rest, waiting, and nourishment. It's not a time to start anything new but rather to brush off old projects and ideas that have been forgotten. It's a time of simplicity and saving. TRANSLATED TEXT
The judgement for Hexagram 23: "Stripping away. Fruitless to have a direction to go." This means this is a time for releasing or stripping away. It's not a good time to set a course for a new destination. The moving line text reads: Stripping away. No mistake. Stripping the bed by way of the flesh. Pitfall. A ripe fruit uneaten. Noble one gets a cart. Small people strip their huts. --Translation by Hilary Barrett, Language of Change The symbolic translation of this is that November will be a period of releasing and stripping away layers of old patterns and beliefs. This process may manifest in the outer world as blockage but it doesn't actually cause a restriction. However, a deep stripping (peeling off layers of conscious thought to reveal subconscious layers) creates a pitfall, which I associate with WATER or going into the depths of depression. The ripe fruit uneaten suggests a ripe opportunity that is passed up or rejected. Noble one in this case means being imaginative and seeing the possibilities for change and growth. The noble one gets a cart = imagination provides a vision to move forward. Small people refers to being small-minded with no vision. Small people strip their huts = limited vision and imagination leads to losing resources. On a more literal level, this could relate to a car (cart) and house (huts). NUCLEAR TRIGRAMS We can expand on the bigram guidance by looking at the nuclear trigrams - those that are inside of the hexagram. In this case, both nuclear trigrams are EARTH reflecting this guidance:
CHANGED HEXAGRAM The changed hexagram shows the developing story. Perhaps this is the energy of December. THUNDER over MOUNTAIN reveals an external environment that's full of change and perhaps a fresh start. There's new movement, an awakening, a decisive action. However, the energy of MOUNTAIN has now moved to the internal position so this suggests I may not even be aware of these changes. MOUNTAIN reflects a desire to hibernate, to isolate, and experience alone time. The bigram guidance, however, says its time to get to work, take the lead, and make decisions. The changed energy is DIVERGING or separating and liberating. What I see in this is that after the stripping away period of November, I'll enter a period of awakening and new energy that may liberate me from the past.
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October seems to be a good month for me and the I Ching, the ancient Chinese divination system: (1) I received Benebell Wen's latest book, I Ching The Oracle (2) I'm taking Harmen Mesker's online course, The Power of the Hexagrams (3) I'm teaching a new course through Kiala Givehand's Life Alchemy Academy, called, Deconstructing the I Ching. The I Ching is one of the oldest and most influential books in the world. It is a Chinese classic text that has been used for centuries for divination, guidance, and self-reflection. Benebell's book provides one of the most detailed histories of the I Ching I've seen in a layperson's book, and the entire book (a hefty 800+ page tome) is rich with diverse ways to use the I ching for ritual, divination, healing and self-reflection. You can purchase the book HERE. Harmen Mesker is a Dutch I Ching instructor and creator of the Yijing Research Academy. I found his videos on YouTube this year and was ecstatic to find such a well-versed practitioner using the I Ching in a similar fashion as myself. He emphasizes use of the trigrams and reading the symbolic translated texts instead of the commentaries. You can find his YiTube Channel videos on YouTube HERE.
I've been studying the I Ching for about 25 years and the philosophical commentaries have never felt "correct" to me. About 15 years ago I realized those commentaries weren't actually translations of the original text but interpretations of translations. After finding some direct translations that contained symbolic and metaphoric language that could be interpreted as an oracle, I've been diving more deeply into the original oracular foundation of the I Ching, which includes understanding the energies of the trigrams, bigrams, and the 6 lines. And that brings me to my course, Deconstructing the I Ching. The I Ching is composed of 64 hexagrams. Typically, for an I Ching reading, the interpretive text of these hexagrams is consulted. However, there is another way to read the I Ching, without using a book of translations or commentaries. In my 4-hour course, you’ll learn to deconstruct the I Ching, and use the building blocks of the hexagram to gain immediate and intuitive messages to modern dilemmas. In this beginner-friendly course, you will:
The course includes:
To find out more about the course and register, click HERE. My Ko-fi members have been offered a deep discount on this course. If you're a member or supporter, click HERE for the discount link. |
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